Hero Worship
by WildOrion
Summary: Eckhart liked to pride himself in his calm and cool demeanor... but this kid really freaked him out...


**A/N:** Why did I delete this story again? I have no clue. But I found it in an old file on my PC and decided to bring it back. Looks like all my old stories are getting some new life, eh?

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**Hero Worship**

Eckhart stared at the strange kid in front of him.

The strange kid stared back.

The two had bumped into one another as he strolled through the marketplace, having picked up a few groceries to stock his fridge at home. While the Chief Nightwalker would often pay no heed, offering a distant, but polite apology for running into someone, this time was most certainly different. The kid looked exactly like him. Short, spiky black hair and dressed in a cheap imitation of his armor…he even had a _mask_. The Head Knight liked to pride himself in his calm and cool demeanor…

But this kid really creeped him out.

After a few, painfully awkward moments of silence, he spun around on his heel and promptly walked away, wanting nothing more than to forget the odd occurrence. '_Out of sight, out of mind_,' he coolly told himself. The sounds of tiny footsteps reached his ears and he hastened his steps, walking faster once he realized that the kid was following after him. Increasing his pace, he walked with long, quick strides, but the boy sped up to a short jog in order to match his pace. His left eye twitching, Eckhart summoned his mana, pushing it through his legs as he leapt high into a nearby tree.

"That's so cool!" the boy exclaimed loudly, eyes wide as he stared upwards. Pulling out a pair of steelies—'_Where the heck did a kid like him get those?_' Eckhart wondered—he stabbed them into the tree's bark, using the knives as handles to pull himself up. When he'd reached the Nightwalker's branch, he shakily balanced himself and walked closer, only to have the older man jump away to another tree. "How do you do that!" cried the boy excitedly after him.

"Flash jump," Eckhart replied quietly.

"Wow!" Despite the mask hiding most of his face, the awe struck expression he made was clearly visible.

Sighing, Eckhart removed his own mask, rubbing his face and pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "So, are you going to tell me what you want, or are we going to have to do this all day?"

"You're Eckhart, the Chief Knight of Darkness!" shouted the kid, the obvious hero-worship heard in his tone.

"…now that we've established who I am, who are _you_?" he asked, sighing.

"I'm Eckhart Junior!"

The Knight felt his eye twitch again, an embarrassed sweat drop sliding down his forehead. "No, I'm serious kid. Really. Who are you?"

"Fine, my name is John Smith…"

Eckhart almost felt bad for the kid. '_Really? That's his name? No wonder he wants to pretend to be someone else…_'

"Will you train me?"

"What?"

"Please! I know that I'm still too young to be a recruit, but I really want to do my part to help the kingdom! I want to serve Empress Cygnus too! And you're totally the coolest out of all the Chief Knights! I saw you training the other day, and you were all like 'whoosh!' 'kyah!' 'wahpow!' and it was so freaking AWESOME! I want to be just like you!"

'_Such a sad, little boy_,' thought Eckhart, shaking his head. "Sorry kid, but no."

"What? Why not?" he pouted.

"Maybe when you're old enough to actually enlist, but until then my answer is no."

"But…but…I can't enlist until I'm fifteen! I'm only twelve!" cried John.

"I'll see you in three years then," replied Eckhart, securing the bag of groceries in his arms and leaping away, jumping from tree branch to tree branch until he was out of sight.

Sighing pitifully, John sat down on the branch, leaning back against the tree trunk as he moped. "Great, now I'll never become a Knight," he muttered bitterly, removing his mask and angrily throwing it away. Looking down, his eyes widened as he realized just how high off the ground he was. Climbing up was always easier than climbing down, and he didn't know how he would ever get out of the tree.

It was nearing nighttime when a heavily armored man passed by, whistling a small tune as he lugged a massive sword over his shoulder. A quiet voice suddenly caught his attention and he looked around, attempting to identify the source of the noise.

"Up here! Mister, up here! Please, I'm stuck and I can't get down!" shouted John, freezing cold and terrified after sitting in the tree for several hours now.

Mihile gasped as he saw a tiny boy sitting high up in the trees, setting his sword aside and leaping up and landing on the branch. "Here, climb onto my back," he said, crouching down and kneeling for him to get on. When the kid's tiny arms were wrapped securely around his neck, he held his legs around his sides and jumped down, cushioning the landing with a small burst of mana.

"There you go," said the Knight, leaning down for him to get off.

"Thanks a lot!" said a grateful John, glad to be back on solid ground. "I was up there for hours!"

"Hours?" asked a shocked Mihile. '_Poor kid_,' he thought, reaching down and ruffling his hair affectionately. "Well, however you got stuck, make sure to be more careful next time, got it?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks again!"

"No problem," replied the warrior with a kind smile. "Well, I should be off now. Make sure you go straight home, understand?" When John nodded his head, Mihile waved and walked away, slinging his sword over his shoulder once more as he whistled along.

John tilted his head thoughtfully as he watched the blonde knight disappear. '_That was Mihile, the Chief Knight of Light…_' Reaching up, he fingered a dark lock of hair and pulled it down to eye level. Smiling widely, he rushed home to wash the dye from his hair, already making plans to buy a cheap set of armor and color it white with the leftover paint his father had used when renovating their house.

'_Forget Eckhart, Mihile is so cool!_'


End file.
